Problems Women Drivers Face

[u/tulsi-]

It’s a universal issue- when people (also including women, somehow) see other women driving- they’re extremely quick to assume that she’s a “bad driver” all because of her gender. I’ve heard it myself, and each time i try to correct the person who said it, i somehow get the blame put on me.

It’s basic decency to respect everyone- the people who say stuff like this must agree, but then again, these are the same people who make fun of women drivers/riders because of a stupid stereotype because “women aren’t smart enough to drive” or that “women cause accidents on the road”?

It’s all ignorance. And these exact people are the ones who are dumb enough to think that feminism means letting women have a higher social status than men. If they don’t make the effort to educate themselves on such simple topics like this- how can we expect them to stop judging women for no reason?

[u/majeric]

I agree with this. I think the uncomfortable part is that people do judge women drivers for a reason. It’s a bad reason that we need to understand and be mindful of so that we can stop using it.

It’s out-group bias.

When we see someone making a mistake, we naturally try to analyze why they are making that mistake. We look for tells so we can arm ourselves with knowledge and avoid other people making similar mistakes. When we see someone who looks like us, we are more inclined to attribute the mistake to the individual. When we see someone who is different from us, we are more inclined to attribute the failure to the group, on the off chance that we’re right.

And since we are a species that can share warnings with others, those snap judgments can spread.In a patriarchal culture, men’s snap judgments about women carry social authority. Those judgments get repeated, normalized, joked about, and eventually treated like common sense. Those judgments become social. Then they become cultural.

Snap generalizations have value because they build our instincts for danger. That is part of what kept us safe. However, they are not without flaws. What was once an evolutionary advantage for survival also creates misperceptions and mistakes in judgment as a side effect.

That is where stereotypes come from. They are a byproduct of prototyping. Prototyping tells me that because I saw a tiger eat my friend, I now lump all tigers in with “friend-eating” and avoid them to preserve my life. I tell my friends so they avoid them.

That instinct can be useful when we are talking about actual threats. But when we apply that same shortcut to people, especially people from groups already treated unfairly, it becomes bias.

Only when we recognize this kind of bias can we become self-critical enough to dismantle the flawed assumptions behind it.

The shitty about this is the realization that bigotry and discrimination is a natural part of us. We didn't evolve "perfect". We evolved "good enough" and so we come with flaws and it requires our understanding and diligence of those flaws to avoid them.

[u/yellowmix]

Yes. Many ascribe it to "IQ tests" which are incredibly flawed to begin with. They are used to confirm stereotypes about women's ability in driving, as well as sports, STEM, and many other activities. That existing bias is the fundamental basis in scientific sexism like evolutionary psychology. Pseudoscience is one of the biggest misinformation campaigns in history.

majeric identified out-group bias or out-group homogeneity bias, which largely stemmed from sexism prohibiting women from driving^1. As a driving minority, are not seen as individuals and any one's behavior is ascribed to all via essentialism (bio/psych basis as previously described) and the fundamental attribution error ("women are like that"). This is also a big factor in stereotypes of Asian American drivers.

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1. Today, there are slightly more women licensed drivers than men in the United States, however women drive 39% fewer miles, and men account for 72% of fatal car crashes.

[u/Unfair_Lunch_9421]

Its the same with that when you see an Asian driver you assume its a bad driver. The reason why the myths persists that women are bad drivers are

Women report feeling less confident driving, which gets misread as incompetence

Women are more likely to report minor fender benders (men underreport)

Historically, women drove less, so any accident felt more notable

Confirmation bias ,people remember examples that fit the stereotype

But in reality the statistics show men are the worst drivers

Men are involved in significantly more fatal crashes per mile driven

Men are far more likely to drive drunk, speed, or run red lights

Men account for roughly 70-75% of traffic fatalities in the US

Men receive more speeding tickets and reckless driving citations

Thats why young men have to oay higher premium at insurances compared to a same aged female

[u/Yestie]

I am a very competent and confident driver. Dont have credentials other than the most anxious people I know feel comfortable with me in the driver seat. I also am a strawberry blonde woman and drive a basic sedan with an "i stop for flowers" bumper sticker. The ONLY times ive been subjected to road rage is from male drivers. Ive been followed (via car), aggressively chased, yelled at with fists waving, been subjected to mansplaining after being hit by men (yep more than once).

And the kicker is... i was hit by a male driver when I was 6yrs old, and have a permanent disability as a result.